Tuesday 20: up to 22 cm at Bonneval, Galibier closed

Tuesday 20 October is now the key day of the snow episode hitting Haute-Maurienne: the latest model run puts most of the snow on that day rather than on Monday, as in Friday's calculations. The top of the Bonneval-sur-Arc ski area, at 3,000 m, could receive 22 cm on Tuesday, and 28 cm over seven days. In the villages it will not snow: the rain-snow limit is between 2,350 and 2,550 m and the 0 °C isotherm around 2,750 m (model forecast read on Sunday 18 October at 6:52).

Tuesday 20: most of the snow at the top of the ski areas

Fresh snow forecast for Tuesday 20 October at the top of the ski areas (model forecast, not a measurement):

• Bonneval-sur-Arc22 cmat 3,000 m · Haute-Maurienne, 28 cm over 7 days
• Les 2 Alpes11 cmat 3,600 m · Oisans, 19 cm over 7 days
• L'Alpe d'Huez7 cmat 3,330 m · Oisans, 15 cm over 7 days
• Val d'Isère6 cmat 3,197 m · Tarentaise, 8 cm over 7 days
• Tignes6 cmat 3,456 m · Tarentaise, 8 cm over 7 days
• Orelle3 cmat 3,230 m · Maurienne, 7 cm over 7 days

Monday 19 stays quiet: about 1 cm at the top of Bonneval-sur-Arc. Wednesday 21 brings around 5 cm more, then the weather turns clearly colder at the end of the week, with minimums forecast around -5 °C to -8 °C at the top of Bonneval. The two-day summary by massif puts Haute-Maurienne first (24 cm at 3,000 m), well ahead of Haute-Tarentaise (4 cm) and Grandes-Rousses (3 cm).

This morning, Sunday, snow falls mainly further north: around 8 cm at the top of Val Thorens (3,200 m) and 9 cm at Oz-en-Oisans (2,800 m) according to the same model.

Mountain passes: the Galibier is closed

On the Savoie roads page, read on Sunday 18 October at 7:31, the Col du Galibier (mountain pass) is the only pass closed out of the 35 tracked. A notice on the D902 at Bonneval-sur-Arc is also among the 14 notices reporting a road cut or closed, fully or at certain hours. The detail of each notice is shown with its date on the page: only the official source is authoritative, and a webcam never tells you whether a road is open.

Key points

• The announced snow is limited to high altitude: below about 2,350 m it will be rain or nothing.
• These are model totals, recalculated every hour, and they have already been revised several times this week. They are not snow depth on the ground.
• For any trip at altitude, check the state of the passes before setting off.

Follow the episode

• Forecast snow by massif, updated every hour.
• The pages for Bonneval-sur-Arc, Val d'Isère, Tignes and Les 2 Alpes, and the summit webcams when they are transmitting.
• Savoie roads and passes and the 2026-2027 opening dates.